Kazmes' Journal
by Kazmes
Summary: Just a journal I'm typing out to make my Oblivion character seem more realistic. Figured I'd post it here for others to read if they wish to.
1. Day 01

I'm writing this mainly as a way to keep track of what I've done in the game so far, but also trying to add a sense of character development to my character. He is a male Dark Elf specialized in using magic - trying to work in some sword training on the side. Has white hair in the style of a mane.

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_Day 01 – Town of Chorrol_

Today has been a rather interesting day. I awoke in the prison cell that I've been inhabiting for the past couple of weeks, same as any other day. I spent my morning the same as ever, practicing the couple of spells that I learned when I was a child. At just past lunchtime, the Dark Elf across the hall from my cell tried starting up a conversation with me. He kept talking about how he was getting out in a few weeks and he wanted to visit my family to keep them company while I'm gone. He especially wanted to know where my wife lived so he could 'take care of her' after I died in jail. I don't even have a wife. Anyway, while he was trying to taunt me, two of the guards and a man I didn't know approached my cell bars. Judging from their conversation, I guess my cell was supposed to be empty at all times. They had me stand with my back against the far wall as they escorted the unknown man through my cell, opening a secret passage in the stone wall….I thought the arrangement of the stones was irregular. I followed them through the passage, grinning as I heard the guy across the hall start blaring out curses at me. As I followed the guards, we were attacked several times by figures that seemed to crawl out from the shadows themselves. The guards fought bravely, and since they were leading me out of jail I figured that I'd help protect their civilian with my magic. Everyone was very impressed by my knowledge of the Flare spell. Every time one of our attackers died, their armor seemed to vanish, indicating that it was Daedric armor bound to them through conjuration magic. The corpses were all wearing the same red robe and hood, and I figured they were apart of some religious cult. The mysterious civilian the guards were protecting finally introduced himself as Emperor Septim himself, on the run from assassins. He said that all of his sons with the exception of one had already been killed, and he was next. The guards interrupted and escorted the Emperor through a barred gate, telling me I could not follow them. It wasn't long before I found a hole in the wall that led into a series of catacombs underneath the Imperial Prison. The catacombs were infested with rats and a zombie or two, but they all fell under the barrage of my magic. One of the rats got me pretty good though, allowing me to practice a bit of my restoration magic on the wound. I also found some interesting things near an underground well, such as a bow and a couple of steel longswords. I've never been good with weapons, so I just placed them inside a pack that I found on a skeleton and carried them with me. You just never know in Cyrodiil. It wasn't long after making my find that I reencountered the guards and the Emperor. The guards first instinct was to kill me for fear that I was apart of the assassins hunting the Emperor, but the Emperor called them off and asked me to accompany them out of the prison sewers. It's always better to travel in numbers, so I accepted. We soon came to a locked gate after a few more encounters with the assassins, and were forced into following a side passage into a room with no other exits. The guards ran back out of the room to fight off more assassins, and the Emperor bestowed upon me the Amulet of Kings, which only those of the Septim bloodline could wear. The Emperor then told me to get the amulet to Jauffre, the GrandMaster of the Blades (the Emperor's elite bodyguards). Apparently he was living the life of a monk out in Weynon Priory just outside the town of Chorrol. I stared at the amulet for a minute, and when I looked up to accept the Emperor's orders I saw the assassin slide his knife across the Emperor's throat. Holding the amulet in one hand, I let loose a barrage of magic from my other hand, roasting the assassin in his conjured armor. He hit the floor hard, and his armor vanished into the robes and hood. I disliked my prison tunic, so I stole the robe from the assassin's body and dressed myself in it, feeling much more comfortable. The last surviving guard charged back into the room, mourning how he had failed to protect the Emperor. After I explained to him that the Emperor's last wish was for me to deliver the amulet, he wished me well and told me how to get out of the sewers. Sure enough, it wasn't long before I found myself swimming in fresh water, heading away from the island the Imperial City resided upon. I quickly dried myself off and, following a few road signs and a map that a passing Imperial Guard gave me, I spent a good portion of the day making my way to Weynon Priory. Jauffre was more than happy to receive the Amulet of Kings from me, while I was just glad to be rid of it. Something about that amulet just made me feel uncomfortable. Jauffre then proposed that if I would head to the city of Kvatch to find the last surviving son of Emperor Septim, he would provide me with supplies and food. I accepted his offer, and enjoyed the taste of normal food for the first time in weeks. It was already dark outside, so I decided to stay the night here in the town of Chorrol. What I didn't tell Jauffre was that I honestly have no intention at this time of serving the Imperial Empire at this time. The Emperor asked me to deliver the amulet, and I have. If I ever head in the direction of Kvatch, then I might look up this 'Martin' that Jauffre mentioned, but until then I go my own way. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to apply at the Mages Guild and start working my way up the ranks. Maybe one day I'll become Arch-Mage...


	2. Day 09

_Day 09 – City of Skingrad_

Well, I'm now an Associate of the Mages Guild, but I still can't access the Arcane University. In order to advance to the next rank in the guild and gain access to the Arcane University, I must gain a recommendation from all the local guild halls. A couple days ago I retrieved a rare book that was not supposed to exist for the leader of the Chorrol guild hall, earning me a nice recommendation. Before I left town I stopped into a shabby in near the front gate and met a drunken man who kept claiming that he had never been to Cheydinhal before, despite what other people kept telling him. He actually paid me to travel to Cheydinhal and find the imposter that was 'ruining his good name'. I needed to get a recommendation from the Cheydinhal guild leader anyway, so I figured that a little side trip wouldn't hurt. It took me almost the whole day to get to Cheydinhal because I kept encountering bandits on the road who wanted my money. I spent the night in the guild hall, and in the morning found the leader – Falcar. He didn't seem to be in a particularly good mood, but everyone else in the guild told me that he was always like that. So I confronted Falcar about the recommendation, and he told me to retrieve his 'Ring of Burden' from the well behind the guild hall. I needed the key, so I had to get it from Deetsan, an Argonian woman. She asked about the task Falcar had given me, and when I told her she seemed upset. She taught me the spell 'Buoyancy', which should allow me to breathe underwater and carry the ring, which Falcar said I would have trouble lifting. Deetsan also asked me to look for a missing guild Associate by the name of Vidkun. Apparently Vidkun didn't come back after Falcar gave him the same task he gave me. I made my way down into the well, and sure enough, I found Vidkun's body floating on the ceiling of the well. I muttered a Dunmer prayer to help guide his soul to the afterlife, and found the ring Falcar asked me to find on his body. The ring was indeed very heavy, but I managed to hold it long enough to get it back into the guild hall. Deetsan approached me and told me that after I left to retrieve the ring, she had confronted Falcar about his harassment of everyone in the guild hall. She let it slip that she had taught me the Buoyancy spell, and Falcar stormed out of the hall muttering that all our days were numbered. I was mad at first, but Deetsan explained that Falcar might have already written the recommendation and hidden it in his room. I walked downstairs and almost tore apart his room looking for the recommendation, but could not find one. Instead, however, I found a couple of Black Soul Gems in his dresser. When Deetsan saw these, she took them, telling me that she would send in a report about Falcar, along with his involvement with Black Soul Gems, to the Mage Council. She would also send in a recommendation for me since Falcar hadn't written one, convinced that the council would find her recommendation more than suitable. I accepted her decision, as there really wasn't much I could do about it, and left the guild hall. I bumped into the 'imposter' that the man in Chorrol had talked about, and now I understand why people kept saying they had seen him in Cheydinhal – the man and the 'imposter' turned out to be twins. I informed the man I bumped into that his twin was residing in Chorrol, and decided to escort him to his brother. The two of them were very happy to be reunited, and asked me to assist them in helping take back their homestead in the woods to the south of Chorrol. It turned out that I had to do everything while they were back in town drinking and celebrating. Ogres had taken up residence outside of their home, but they easily fell under my growing magical power. I informed the twins that they could reinhabit their home, and they practically begged me to escort them there. Seeing that they wouldn't take no for an answer, I brought them out to their home of Weatherleah, and bid them farewell. Maybe the next time I see them their house won't be such a wreck. I made my way south through the forest and hills until I came upon the city of Skingrad, named after the Count that ruled from the castle. An alchemist in Cheydinhal told me that there was a Nirnroot specialist in Skingrad, so I visited him first. He said that the Nirnroot was supposed to be going extinct, but I've been finding them all over the place – so long as I was around a large body of water such as Lake Rumare. I ended up giving him my entire supply of Nirnroot, and in return he gave me Elixir of Exploration potions of many different potencies. I then decided to spend the night at the guild hall here in Skingrad, and tomorrow I will work on getting my recommendation from the leader here.


	3. Day 14

_Day 14 – Town of Cheydinhal_

The last five days have been strange indeed. I woke a little early to ask for a recommendation from the Skingrad leader. So, I decided to go for a walk around the city to see the sights. Almost as soon as I was out the door, a man named Glarthir approached me and told me to meet him behind the chapel at midnight. Before I could protest he quickly walked off, looking over his shoulder suspiciously. This motion of his made me curious, so I decided to show up later that night. Around noon, I walked back into the guild and inquired about getting a recommendation from the guild hall leader. The woman seemed to be very busy reading an important book, but she told me that a member of the Mages Guild who usually checks in every few days hadn't come back like he was supposed to. I asked around the guild, and finally learned of a cave to the north of the city where this particular member of the guild had been banished because of what those in the guild hall called 'The Scamp Incident'. I reminded the leader woman about this, but she still insisted that I at least go check on him. I left town and headed north after getting a marker on my map from an Argonian mage. Finding the cave wasn't hard at all, but the inside was a little difficult to navigate due to all the zombies. I found the member, and he introduced himself as Erathor. He said he wouldn't leave the cave until all the zombies were slain, and it didn't take me long to finish the rest of them off. I quickly led Erathor back to the guild hall, and the leader told me she would send in the recommendation the first chance she could. As I was leaving the guild hall I could hear Erathor getting a lecture. Later that night at midnight, I met Glarthir like he told me to and I agreed to help him with his little problem. Apparently he thought that people around Skingrad were spying on him. My first target was a woman who lived across the street – I was supposed to follow her around and see who she talked to. I approached her directly and asked her what the problem seemed to be with Glarthir. She told me that she thought Glarthir was sweet at first, but he just kept getting stranger and stranger. I relayed this information to Glarthir, and he was shocked to hear it. He gave me a new target, a noble who lived down the street. I followed this guy all the way up to the Count's castle, where I learned that he didn't even know who Glarthir was. I met Glarthir at midnight again and told him what I overheard. He didn't sound overly convinced, but he gave me the final target – one of the brothers who own the local vineyard named Roberte. I followed him the next day and asked him what he thought of Glarthir, to which he replied that he didn't know me well enough to talk about it. I finally persuaded him to talk about it, to which he informed me that Glarthir had always been such a quiet neighbor. At midnight again, I met with Glarthir. He was not happy when I told him what I had learned from Roberte. He was convinced that I had become part of the conspiracy, and immediately started attacking me. I didn't want this psycho's death on my head, so I ran to the nearest guard. When he saw Glarthir charging after me, the guard yelled for Glarthir to stop, but he didn't. Glarthir continuously charged after me, completely ignoring the guard. The guard was forced to kill him, and told me to just go about my own business. I was just happy to be rid of Glarthir. On my way out of Skingrad I heard a rumor that some of the fastest horses in all of Cyrodiil are raised in Cheydinhal. So, I spent the rest of my day walking to Cheydinhal, and stayed at the Mages Guild for the night. Everyone was happy to see me again. The next morning while I went outside the town walls to buy my new black horse, the lady in charge of taking care of the horses told me about the guards of the city. Apparently a new captain had just been posted in the town, and he was fining all the townspeople for ridiculous things. Someone actually had his house seized and was thrown in prison for a few days just because he fell to the floor and vomited in the local tavern. I almost found the idea of that kind of offense being legal insulting. I asked the lady to prep my horse while I looked into it, giving her a little gold for the trouble. I walked back inside the town and headed for the guard barracks. I found the 2nd in command and asked him what was going on with the fines, and he was just as mad about it as I was. He told me that he wanted to talk to the count and get the head guard jailed for imposing all the ridiculous fines, but he needed evidence. I talked around town, until one local asked me if I would tell the head guard that she had incriminating evidence against him. She didn't really have any, but apparently she was fed up with all the fines to the breaking point. When I brought this to the 2nd in command, he told me that a better plan of action would be to sneak into the head guard's quarters and find some evidence to incriminate him. He gave me the key to the quarters, and I easily made my way inside. I quickly found a letter the head guard was going to send to his family. I brought this back to the 2nd in command, and he was glad to finally have some evidence to put the head guard in jail, and before he left to meet with the Count in the nearby castle, he told me to meet him at the Cheydinhal Bridge Inn in two hours. I waited patiently in the Inn, practicing my newly acquired Alteration magic to levitate some of the items on my table into the air. At the two hour mark, the 2nd in command walked into the Inn with a smile on his face. He informed me that he had been promoted to head guard, and the previous head guard would be in jail for the next few years. He handed me a large sum of gold in return for the services I had provided, and bid me farewell. The Inn Keeper told me that a local was looking for her missing husband, so I decided to take a look before leaving. I stopped in and asked what the problem was, to which she told me that her husband had gone into his studio to paint a new picture, but he hadn't come out for over a day. She had looked inside to make sure he was ok, but he had completely disappeared. And that was why she was so worried. She was sure he didn't leave. She gave me the spare key, and I looked around inside. One painting stood out from the rest, but when I went to look at it a little closer, I felt myself get pulled off my feet. I landed on my back on something soft, and when I stood up the woman's husband was standing in front of me, telling me that I was now stuck in the painting same as him. Turns out the painter used a magical paintbrush to paint his paintings, traveling into the canvas and simply imagining what would be drawn, and the brush would paint the image for him. But, a thief had gotten the jump on him, forcing the both of them into the painting, and the thief stole the brush. The thief had painted some trolls to protect himself, but the trolls turned on their creator and killed him. It didn't take much for me to kill off the trolls and get the brush back. When the painter and I were back out of the painting, I said my goodbyes to the both of them, accepting the painter's apron as a thank you gift, and walked outside. I said my goodbyes around town and walked back outside the wall to pay for my new horse. It cost me a fair portion of my wealth, but I paid for the horse regardless. I would've taken off for the mountain town of Bruma immediately, but the sun was starting to set and I didn't feel like traveling in the dark tonight. I asked the stables to take care of my horse for the night, to which they agreed for the services I had done for the town, and now I'm staying at the Mages Guild tonight. Tomorrow, I'm heading for Bruma.


	4. Day 17

_Day 17 – Town of Bravil_

I couldn't sleep well for some reason, so I left late at night. I made it to Bruma before dawn, and finally slept for a few hours in the Bruma Guild Hall. The next morning, I inquired to the guild leader for a recommendation – another woman who apparently didn't know the first thing about casting spells. She also seemed to like reminding everyone that she has 'connections' at the Arcane University, so she doesn't have the greatest of reputations. She told me that if I wanted a recommendation that I'd simply have to find someone named J'skar. Apparently he had become invisible so he could play pranks on the leader. I talked to J'skar's prank partner, Volanaro, who agreed to make J'skar visible again if I helped them pull another prank on the leader. The prank ended up being the theft of a book from the leader's desk entitled "Manual of Spellcraft". I really do wonder, even with all her 'connections', how this woman ever became a guild leader. I delivered the book to Volanaro, and in return he held up his end of the bargain and made J'skar visible. Almost startled me when he suddenly appeared next to me. Anyway, I told the woman in charge that J'skar could be seen again, and my recommendation was set. With nothing left to do around town, I headed back outside to the stables, got on my black horse, and took off for the town of Bravil. It took me less than a day to make the journey on my horse, even with all the wolves and bandits trying to impede my progress. Bravil is a very small town, resting on the shores of Niben Bay. I've been told that a strange door has appeared out in the middle of the lake, and sure enough it could be seen from the docks. I made a mental note to myself to check into the door in the future, but for now I'm trying to focus on getting all of my recommendations and advancing through the ranks of the Mages Guild. So, after taking a final glance at the strange door, I quickly found the Guild Hall and walked in. It was a little shabbier than all the other guild halls I've been to, but it served its purpose. Finding the guild leader wasn't a problem, as she approached me first. She was an Argonian woman, and she seemed to be having a problem with one of her members. Apparently a non-member was harassing one of the girls and stole her Mages Staff. I frowned when I heard this, and walked outside to find him. It was very fortunate that he was walking by the guild hall just then, and I approached him. I finally got him to talk about the staff, and it turned out that the only reason he took the staff in the first place was because he was frustrated with the girl. He loved her, and it made him angry that she didn't feel the same way about him, so he stole her staff. He no longer had the staff either, having sold it to a tourist from the Imperial City. I found out that this tourist had also left to return to the Imperial City, which didn't help my mood. It only took me a few hours to make the trip from Bravil to the gates of the Imperial City, and I must say that I was amazed at the architecture. I found the white tower in the center of the city to be particularly breath-taking, apparently being one of the last surviving buildings from the time of the Aylieds. But, I was here on business this time, so I told myself that I would return on a better day to explore the city. Asking around, I easily found the tourist's home, and after a little persuasion on my part I managed to get him to sell the staff to me. After another short trip on my horse, I was back inside the Bravil Guild Hall. I turned the staff over to the Argonian woman, who in turn taught me how to charm people using magic. I think I'm going to find good uses for this spell in the future. She also said that I had done more than enough to earn my recommendation, and she would send it in immediately. I spent the night in the guild hall, and the next morning as I was preparing to leave town I was approached by a sailor, and he told me about a ghost that appeared on a nearby shore. The sailor called this ghost 'The Forelorn Watchman'. I didn't believe in ghosts, other than the ones that mages occasionally summon from the Plane of Oblivion to help them in battle. I wouldn't mind learning a few more summoning spells myself. The only things I've been taught to summon so far are basic skeletons and scamps. Well, I decided to stay another night in town just to prove to myself that this 'ghost' the entire town was talking about was just a rumor meant to attract tourists. But to my surprise, this ghost actually appeared at the spot he was supposed to. I let curiosity get the better of me, and followed the ghost all the way to a place the locals call the 'Mouth of the Panther'. In actuality it's just a few rocks jutting out of the water at the mouth of a river sort of like teeth – ironically the name of the river is 'The Panther River'. The ghost actually turned to me and asked me to find his body and set him free. I didn't know what he meant by 'set him free', as he was a ghost and all and obviously free of his mortal body. But, again, curiosity won the argument and I swam across the bay to the mouth of the river and found a shipwreck just on the other side of the rocks. I quickly made my way inside only to find more ghosts haunting the wreck, probably the dead crew. I dispatched the ghosts with my magic and slowly made my way into the bottom level of the ship, finding the ship's log on my way down. On the bottom floor, I encountered a Faded Wraith haunting a particular room. I managed to defeat it barely before it had made its way across the room to grab me. The wraith was apparently a crew member that, according to the ship's log, had started a mutiny against the ship's captain – the ghost who had sent me here in the first place. I took a key off the wraith's remains and used it to open a door on the other side of the room. In the next room, I found a skeleton chained to a post near the back. I used the key again to remove the shackles, and the skeleton fell to the floor in a heap. The Forelorn Watchman appeared next to me, giving me a shock, and thanked me for setting him free. In return, he showed me where a map was that would lead me to my 'reward'. After watching the ghost vanish into thin air, I followed the map up the Panther River to one of the bends, where I swam down to the riverbed and found a chest full of gold, pearls, and other treasures. I thanked the Watchman in my head for his gift, and made my way back to Bravil, where I am now. Once my clothes are dry and I've had some sleep, I'm heading further south to the town of Leyawiin to work on getting my next recommendation. After that, then all that's left to get is the port town of Anvil and then, ironically, Kvatch. I guess fate wants me to find that 'Martin' guy for Jauffre. I might as well, seeing as how I'll be going to that town anyway.


	5. Day 19

_Day 19 – Town of Leyawiin_

The morning started out well. I left the town walls, got on my horse, and a few hours later I was paying another Dunmer to stable my horse while I was inside Leyawiin's walls. I had made the three-hour long trip with only a couple annoyances from the wolves. I found a pacing Imperial outside the wall after stabling my horse, complaining that a house down the road a ways more called Greyland was the headquarters for a group of bandits who sold poison on the streets of Leyawiin. The guard wanted this to end, but every time he approached, the lookout would see him coming and everyone would run before the guard could catch any of them. It was still around midday, so I decided to take a walk down the road to see what the big deal was with this poison. I found the house easily enough, but the moment I stepped inside all the bandits drew their swords and attacked me. Instead of defending myself, I ran back out the door and led the bandits back to the pacing guard, who was more than happy to finally fight the bandits. I'm actually surprised the bandits didn't turn tail and run when they saw the guard – I guess they were fed up with his interference. After the bandits were dead, the guard paid me for my services, and I walked through the gate into the town. I explored the town a little before I finally stepped inside the Guild Hall. However, I was disappointed to find that the leader of this particular guild hall was becoming more and more unstable. Apparently she kept having visions that prevented her from even talking normally to people…something about 'the words you seek will not come'. I thought she was crazy. Her assistant approached me and explained to me that someone stole the woman's magic amulet that kept her visions at bay, and that's why she was so crazy. I asked around the guild to see if anyone had seen the stone, and everyone pointed me to Kalthar, a local mage who was angry to be the underling of a woman kept sane only by magic. I asked him about the amulet, but he just kept going on and on about how he was glad the amulet was gone and that the only reason the woman had been made leader in the first place was because of her father. I brought this information up to the assistant, who then pointed me in the direction of the leader's father's burial place. I quickly made my way to the abandoned fort, and once I was inside I had to fight my way through a small army of Marauders who had taken up residence there. I finally found the stone sarcophagus of the man I was looking for, and inside I found the woman's father's amulet I had been sent to retrieve. I closed the sarcophagus up again, apologizing out loud for disturbing the man's remains. I turned to leave, when none other than Kalthar approached me from the shadows, demanding that I hand over the amulet. He confessed that he was the one who stole the first amulet, because he wanted to get out of the guild hall and move on to a different one. He would've given the amulet back once she had been forced to retire. I refused to give the amulet to him, and he attacked me. This guy was downright pissing me off, so I wasted no time in using my magic to take him down. I took the key off his belt, and used it to unlock the door out of the burial chamber. I quickly made my way back through the passages and left the ruined fort behind me. I presented the new amulet to the leader of the guild hall, and she immediately seemed to recover from her insanity. She turned to me, thanked me, told me that she'd send the recommendation right away, and then issued a warning to me. She told me that she had seen my future, and that many lives were going to be affected by my choices, which she described as life or death choices. I shrugged her prediction off, because even with the amulet around her neck she still seemed a little on the crazy side. As I was leaving the guild hall, I caught a horrible whiff in the air, and curiosity once again told me to investigate. I found myself entering a noblewoman's house, and discovered that the lady had bought a Daedric staff from a traveling merchant. The only way the staff could be gotten rid of was for someone else to willingly accept it from its current owner, because some unknown force emanated from the staff to compel its owner to keep it. I consulted with the local alchemist in the Guild Hall to learn this information. She also told me that there was a cave nearby where there was a shrine to the staff's creator, and that was the only place the staff could be discarded. I willingly accepted the staff from the noblewoman, and the scamps that had been created from reading the runes on the side of the staff immediately started followed me and the staff around. I made for the cave immediately, wanting to discard the scamps as soon as possible. There were more scamps inside the cave, but it wasn't long before I found the shrine and dropped the staff on the stone pedestal. I quickly left the cave and made my way back to town to explain my success to the noblewoman, who in turn gave me a magic ring for my trouble. I decided to get an early start on my way to the town of Anvil, where I would work on my next recommendation for the Mages Guild. I am going to save Kvatch for last. It took me the rest of the daylight hours and all night to make the trip on horseback, but as the sky was just starting to lighten up, I put my horse in the stable and walked through the town gates. I'm sleeping for a few hours in the Guild Hall, and when I wake up I'm going to talk to the local guild leader about getting my recommendation. I'll see you soon Kvatch…


	6. Day 22

_Day 22 – Cloud Ruler Temple_

I awoke feeling refreshed, and quickly made my way downstairs to talk to the leader. I found her near the alchemical supplies, and didn't hesitate to ask about a recommendation. She told me that recently there had been some murders just outside of town, near an inn along the road. She asked me to go and talk to a Battlemage she had dispatched to the inn, and help take down the murderer. I accepted the task, and quickly made my way out to the inn, leaving my horse in the Anvil stables. I met up with the Battlemage in the entrance hall, and she told me to rent a room for the night so we could talk in private. The guild hall leader had mentioned that all the murder victims had been merchants, so I decided to set a plan in motion to catch the murderer. I approached the inn keeper and explained to him that I was a traveling merchant looking for a room for the night. The inn keeper mentioned the murders, and how brave I must be to still be traveling around that area. As I accepted the key to my room, a woman approached me and expressed concern about revealing that I was a merchant. I assured her that I was fine, and went upstairs to my room. I had a lot of time to kill, and with nothing to do I simply sat around practicing my Alteration magic. Later that night, the Battlemage walked in through my door and shut it tight behind her. I rose from my bed to greet her, and she explained that my plan for posing as a merchant was exactly what she had planned to do herself, but I had beaten her to it by announcing to the entire inn that I was a traveling merchant. The next morning I would leave the inn and follow the road towards Kvatch, until the murderer appeared. Then, the Battlemage and her partner would emerge from hiding just off the road and help me take down the assailant. As planned, I left the inn the next morning and started walking towards Kvatch. As predicted, the murderer appeared, and it turned out to be the same woman who had expressed concern the other day in the inn. My Battlemage guardians emerged, and a battle of magic erupted in the middle of the road. It wasn't long before the murderer lay dead on the side of the road, and I was heading back to Anvil to retrieve my recommendation from the guild leader. Sure enough, she was more than willing to send in a glowing recommendation for me, and while I was at the guild I spent a few more hours getting training in Destruction magic. After I was satisfied that I could learn no more from the guild trainer, I retrieved my horse from the stables and headed for Kvatch, where my last recommendation lay in waiting.

This was not to be, however, as I soon found out as I approached the city of Kvatch. As I grew closer and closer, the sky itself started to turn a deep crimson color, with cracks appearing everywhere. The air itself smelled burnt, like a raging fire had been lit on the top of the giant hill that Kvatch was built on. I could see smoke rising in the distance, so I urged my horse to gallop faster. As I made my way up the slope towards the city, a citizen came running toward me, screaming in fear. I stopped him to ask what was wrong, but he kept screaming about how everyone in the city was dead because of the Oblivion Gates that had opened. Before I could ask more, the citizen ran away down the hill screaming again. I couldn't believe that actual gates to the Plane of Oblivion could be opened – nothing like it had ever happened in all the many years I've been a citizen of Cyrodiil. But it was then that I remembered reading in a book that the only thing that kept the Daedra of Oblivion from invading our world was the Dragonfires. The fires serve as a kind of barrier, preventing travel between the two planes. And now with the Emperor dead, the Dragonfires had burnt out until they could be reignited by the Emperor's successor. All of the Emperor's sons were dead, killed by assassins just before I escaped from prison almost a month ago. All of them, with the exception of 'Martin'. He was somewhere inside the city of Kvatch, possibly dead if what the citizen was true. I had to see it for myself, so I made my way to a small encampment about halfway down the hill from the city, leaving my horse in the care of a kind citizen. I made my way further up the slope until I was standing behind a barricade with some guards, staring at the main gate of Kvatch. What I saw was both horrifying and yet beautiful beyond words. An oval of rock had erected itself in front of the main gate to the city, and there was what looked like a solid wall of blazing fire within the oval. This gateway to Oblivion spewed forth a handful of scamps, and I lent the guards a hand in dealing with them. The head guard expressed his concerns about the gate, and I volunteered to help in any way I could. He looked me in the eye, and told me that the only way I could help now was to go through the gate into the Plane of Oblivion, and find a way to close the gate from the other side – which was practically the same thing as suicide. I accepted the task anyway, letting curiosity get the better of me yet again. I had always wanted to see what Oblivion looked like up close and personal all my life, and I wasn't about to let this chance pass me by. After dealing with another wave of scamps, I charged through the gate and stepped onto the burnt dirt that made up the ground of Oblivion. The sky was the same as it was on our side of the gate, dark red and cracks everywhere. The air smelt even worse than it did on the side I had come from, and I found it a little harder to breathe. I did my best to adjust, and pressed for the tower that stood in the middle of the small island I had appeared on. There was plenty of bloodgrass to be collected, and almost as many scamps to deal with before I finally found the entrance to the tower. I quickly made my way inside and explored the furnace-like building. Scamps were everywhere, as well as quite a few Dremora Conjurers. My magic proved to be less effective against these foes, but it still did its job. It wasn't long before I had crossed a skywalk to an adjacent tower, where I heard screams for help. I made my way to the top, killing a Dremora guard in Daedric armor before I found one of the guards sent in before me to try and close the gate. He told me that in order to close the gateway, I would need to capture an artifact he called a Sigil Stone at the top of the main tower. I retrieved a key from the guard I had killed, but as I turned to free the guard he told me to forget about him and close the gate as quickly as possible. I hesitated about leaving him behind for a moment, but his urging persuaded me to turn. As I ran back down the stairs, I yelled back to him that his sacrifice wouldn't be forgotten, especially by me. It wasn't long before I found myself fighting off more conjurers and scamps, as well as more Dremora guards. They seemed to be growing and growing in number, so I assumed that I was headed in the right direction. I finally found myself standing in the top room of the tower, facing the giant pillar of fire in the middle of the tower. As the imperial guard had said, a circular stone was floating at the top of the flames, as if keeping them contained. I quickly pulled the Sigil Stone from its perch atop the pillar, and the pillar stretched toward the sky. With no Sigil Stone to keep it stable, it seemed that the entire tower was collapsing around me as the pillar was getting ready to explode. There was no way I was going to make it out of the tower and back through the gate in time, so I did all I could do and clutched the stone tightly in my hands. There was a bright flash of light, and just as I thought it was all over, I found myself back on my side of the Oblivion Gate. I whirled around, and watched the portal collapse in on itself, its source of power still glowing brightly in my hands. Smiling at this turn of events, I slipped the stone into my pack, and led the guards into the city to search for survivors.

The southern section of the city was full of scamps and conjurers, but we crushed them with steel and magic and made our way into the chapel of Akatosh. With the southern section clear of enemies, a couple of the guards escorted all the civilians hiding in the chapel back the way we had come so they could be safe at the encampment. I however stayed with the remaining guards and helped them fight their way through the rest of the city towards the castle. The bridge was raised, however, and I had to double back into the chapel to retrieve a key from the guard stationed inside. He accompanied me all the way inside the castle gates through the underground, but died in a scamp ambush. I retrieved the key from his body, said a small prayer for him, and dropped the drawbridge for the rest of the guards waiting outside the castle. Joining with them again, we stormed through the rest of the castle in an attempt to find the Count, but regretfully we were too late. The Count was dead, so we retrieved his signet ring instead for when the next Count was crowned. I quickly made my way back to the encampment to look for Martin, and as luck would have it he had been part of the group to leave the chapel. I persuaded him to follow me back to Weynon Priory so we could report to Jauffre, and we left immediately. It took a greater part of the day to get to Weynon Priory, but my relief at seeing the small monastery again was short lived as a local farmer came running at me, running from a figure I recognized as the same people from when the Emperor was killed in the Imperial sewers. I practically leapt from my horse, hurling magic at the farmer's attacker. Upon the attacker's death, the Daedric armor vanished to reveal a figure dressed in red robes, the same as before. I turned to Martin, only to see him clashing with another attacker. I could only watch in amazement at Martin's skill with the blade, and was quite shocked when I saw him shove a ball of fire into his attacker's face. For a priest, he certainly had skills for combat. We headed into the nearby chapel to find Jauffre holding his own against a pair of attackers. We helped fend them off, and the three of us quickly went back to check on the Amulet of Kings. We were disappointed to see that it had been taken, but Jauffre was satisfied that Martin was safe. We fended off another group of attackers, and together we rode towards a place in the mountains known as Cloud Ruler Temple, the sanctuary of The Blades. It took us the better part of the day to make it there, but a warm welcome waited for us. The Blades posted in the temple greeted us kindly, and Martin gave a small speech about his feelings on being the new Emperor. Jauffre told me how he admired my fighting at Weynon Priory, and offered me a place within The Blades. By this time I have come to respect Martin's as well as Jauffre's fighting talent, so I gladly accepted the position. I was given a katana as a gift, to which I intend to train myself in the use of. I remembered the Sigil Stone I had retrieved from the Oblivion gate, and brought it out from my pack. It continued to glow with a steady light, and I could feel the magical energy emanating from its surface. I held my new sword in one hand, while holding the sword in the other. I fumbled slightly with the stone as the wind picked up, feeling it fall from my hand. I made an attempt to grab it, but failed as the stone brushed against my sword. In a bright flash of light, the stone fused itself with my blade, causing it to glow a slight purple color. I recognized the new enchantment as a Soul Trap spell, used for sealing souls into Soul Gems. I found this quite fitting, and made a mental note about the effect of fusing a Sigil Stone with a weapon. Seeing as how it was already getting quite late into the night, I decided to stay at the temple tonight before setting out for the Imperial City. I explained to Martin that I would serve as a Blade, but in order to do so I had to further my magical training. My next stop is the Arcane Sanctuary, where I will hopefully be accepted despite my missing Kvatch recommendation. It should be acceptable, seeing as how Kvatch has been effectively wiped off the map.


	7. Day 30

_Day 30 –City of Skingrad  
_

It's been over a week since my last entry. A lot has happened lately, so I shall start at the beginning. As I said I would, I left the Cloud Ruler Temple and headed for the Arcane Sanctuary of the Imperial City. I spoke with a man named Raminus, who told me that he had received all the recommendations from the guild halls of Cyrodiil. When I asked him about Kvatch, he simply said that Arch-Mage Traven had already observed the destruction of the city, so a recommendation from that particular guild hall was unnecessary. While I was slightly upset that the Arch-Mage hadn't taken any action to prevent the disaster or help out the survivors, I did find some comfort when Raminus advanced me to the rank of Guild Apprentice. I was one step closer to my goal of becoming Arch-Mage.

The first task Raminus gave me was to craft myself a Mage Staff. He said it was a symbol of status as well as power. While I was quite content with my sword at my side, I know that I must complete the tasks I am given in order to advance further in the guild. He directed me to a place on the edge of Lake Rumare called Wellspring Cave. A couple of mages live in the cave who tended the trees growing on an island the cave was connected to. They used the wood from the trees to make staves for other mages in the guild, and so they would help me make mine. I left for the cave immediately, remembering my promise to Martin to serve him as a Blade once my training was completed.

It didn't take long to find the cave, but inside it was absolutely terrible. I found one of the mages who lived here dead on the ground, and I said a small Dunmer prayer for her as I removed her key to the cave doors. My prayer was interrupted though, as a person dressed in Necromancer robes lunged from the shadows and attacked me with a mace. I managed to defeat my attacker, but not before taking a good blow to my head. My Restoration magic healed the wound fairly well, but my head still pounded from the impact. As I made my way through the remainder of the cave, I kept on alert for more Necromancers, and sure enough there were plenty of them. I made my way out of the cave, emerging onto the island connected to the mainland by the cave. I saw a Dark Elf Necromancer glance over at me as I emerged into the sunlight, and threw aside the other dead mage's body. I created a small globe of frost magic in my palm as this Dunmer approached me, saying something about killing me and using my corpse as a puppet. As this Necromancer raised her arm to cast her own magic, I threw my frost magic, striking her in the face. Another pair of Necromancers emerged from the bushes, and a terrific battle of magic and conjuration began. I was successful in defeating the three of them, but I had several scars and burns to show for it…and my head was pounding harder than ever. My first instinct was to return to the Arcane Sanctuary and report back to Raminus about what I had discovered, but before I left I saw a stone chest in the center of the small island. Inside was a rather fine-looking staff, and as I picked it up I saw an engraving literally carve itself into the wood. I watched with curiosity until it had finished, and I recognized it as my name. I decided to take it with me, and quickly made my way back through the cave so as to return to the Arcane Sanctuary.

While Raminus was concerned about the Necromancers' attack on Wellspring Cave, he was relieved to see that I was still alive and I had found my Mages Staff on top of things. He saw fit to promote me to the rank of Guild Journeyman for the trouble I had been put through to get my staff, and said he would confer with the Arch-Mage as to what course of action was to be taken. In the meantime, I was to bring the staff to a man in the Enchanting hall so he could give my staff an enchantment of my choosing. I did so immediately, and chose to enchant my staff with a Silencing spell. The man in charge told me that it would take about 24 hours or so to finish enchanting the staff, and I should come back later to retrieve it. I bowed in respect to him, and took my leave of the Arcane Sanctuary. In my mind, if I was going to improve my magical abilities I would need a place to practice them in private, away from the fuss of a guild hall or even the Arcane Sanctuary. I left the Imperial City on the back of my horse – heading back to the city of Skingrad.

I reached the city in only a few hours, and left my horse in the stable. I quickly made my way up to the castle to speak with an Orc who worked for the Count of Skingrad. I had heard around town the last time I was there that this Orc was the one to talk to about purchasing a house. It wasn't hard to find him walking around the castle courtyard, and I easily talked him into selling me a place known as Rosethorn Manor. Apparently the previous owner was reluctant to pay his taxes to the Count, and was the source of many complaints around the city. The Count and the Orc had been looking for an excuse to throw him out of town. The house now belonged to me, and I quickly went about decorating it the way I had always wanted my house to look. I ended up going out and buying the things I needed from a local shop, and for a few extra gold the shopkeeper's workers would do the remodeling for me. Most of what I bought was improvements to the third-floor room which was to be my bedroom, tables, shelves, and improvements for the in-door balcony on the second floor. All in all it cost me a good portion of all the gold I had received since my escape from prison. I decided to travel back to the Arcane Sanctuary to stay the night while my house was being refurbished.

The following morning I retrieved my staff from the Enchanting Hall, pleased to feel its magic in my hand when I gripped the wood. I spoke briefly with Raminus and explained my intentions to him about my private training. He expressed that I should be gone no more than a couple of weeks, as he would probably have more tasks for me to do should I choose to accept them. I told him that I would return as quickly as my training would allow, and bid him farewell. I made my way back to Skingrad, where I found that my house had already been finished. I was quite pleased with the result, and went upstairs into my bedroom to begin training myself in the many schools of magic. I've been training myself a lot these past few days, and I can feel my power growing by leaps and bounds. One more night in my own house, and I'll return to the Arcane Sanctuary. I am ready to advance further in the ranks of the Mages Guild…I need only the chance to prove myself.

* * *

Starting in this journal entry, I'm trying to follow the advice someone gave me. I can only hope they approve. Thank you for the tip _CloudReader_!


	8. Day 33

_Day 33 – City of Skingrad_

I've gotten a little side tracked the last few days. I remembered a task asked of me during my time in Leyawiin, and I suddenly felt compelled to ask about it while I was in the Imperial City. I remembered that a book called 'Knightfall' was for sale in the Market District, so I swung by and picked up a copy to read up on a legendary knight that produced the crystallized tears a member of the Leyawiin guild hall wished to possess. After reading the book, I learned that I needed a handful of refined Frost Salts in order to open the door to the glade where the knight had been frozen mid-battle with a giant Frost Atronach. I asked the head alchemist at the Arcane Sanctuary about these Frost Salts, and was happy to hear that she had just finished creating a batch. I bought them from her, and followed the directions in the book to get to the glade of the knight's final battle. Using the Frost Salts to open the door, I entered the glade and almost immediately left – it was so cold that the frosty air seemed to burn my skin. I managed to survive, however, long enough to find 5 of the knight's crystallized tears. I quickly left the glade, casting restorative magic to cure my 'burns'. I made my way back to Leyawiin, and delivered the tears, for which I was paid a nice sum of money. With that little chore out of the way, I headed north out of the eastern gate.

On my way up north to the Imperial City I found a shrine to the Daedric Lord known as Nocturnal. I found myself drawn to this particular shrine, and I still do not know why. I talked with a few of the worshippers around the shrine, and after convincing them I meant no harm, they allowed me to approach the shrine. As I stood in front of the shrine, I heard a voice in my head tell me to go back to Leyawiin and talk to a couple of Argonians who had stolen a crystal eye from the shrine's statue. This voice told me that it wanted the eye returned. Somehow knowing that it had been Nocturnal herself that had spoken to me, I sighed as I turned back and headed for the eastern gate of Leyawiin.

Once I was back within the walls, I spoke with the guards about these Argonians. Sure enough the guard knew of the two I spoke of, and gave me directions to their house. I cast a chameleon spell upon myself to become invisible, and crept inside. The two of them were talking about a cave near the shoreline of Topal Bay, where they'd hidden their prize. I crept out of the house and began making my way south toward the cave, when I sensed a powerful magical presence slightly to the north. The last time I felt that much power was when I stood before the Oblivion Gate in Kvatch. Fearful of my theory that another gate had been opened, I rode my horse through the forest in search of the source of the magic I sensed.

I reached the source of the magic, but did not see anything that even remotely resembled a gate. Sighing with relief, I turned to leave when there was a loud cracking noise from behind me. I whirled around to face whatever had caused it, only to stare as I watched the crack tear itself open further. Rocks from underground shot out of the ground and curled toward each other, forming a half-oval to contain the expanding void. As it finished expanding to fill the space between the rocks, the void erupted into flame, and the gateway to Oblivion was complete. Scamps and Fire Atronachs stepped forth from the gate, but I used my magic to drive them back. I didn't want to see another incident like Kvatch, so without thinking I leapt through the gate back onto the Plane of Oblivion. This place was different from the Kvatch gate, but it was also very much the same as before. Towers stood tall on the island I stood upon, and as I made my inside the largest tower I found the same pillar of fire extending up through the tower. This proved my theory that all the gates worked the same – they all depended on a Sigil Stone to keep the pillar of fire stable and that in turn kept the gate to Cyrodiil open. Acting on this knowledge, I slowly made my way up through the tower, fighting off Scamps, Fire Atronachs, and the occasional Dremora. It wasn't until I had found my way into the Sigil Stone chamber that I encountered a pair of Conjurers, but they too proved no match for my magical powers. I removed the Sigil Stone from its resting place atop the pillar of flame, and it had the same reaction as the previous gate. The pillar slowly became more and more unstable until it finally collapsed on itself. I closed my eyes as the light grew brighter and brighter, and I felt myself pulled back through the gate I had come through. I watched as the gate closed in on itself, and the rocks containing the fiery void shattered. A few Fire Atronachs were still on this half of the gate when it closed, but they were relatively easy to put down.

From there I made my way south toward the shoreline, encountering another couple of Oblivion Gates that were already open. I managed to close these gates as well, earning more than my share of scars from the local population of Oblivion. With three Sigil Stones in my pack, each sealed within a smaller separate bag to keep them from fusing with anything, I finally found my way to the cave, and made my way inside. There were many wolves, bears, and trolls within the cave, but my magic made short work of them and I discovered my target – the Eye of Nocturnal. I left the cave and quickly made my way back to the Shrine of Nocturnal, placing the eye back into the statue. I heard the voice of Nocturnal in my head again, and a special lockpick appeared in my hand. She said that it was my reward for returning her sight to her. Bowing in respect to the shrine, I got back on my horse and followed the roads north all the way until I found myself back in the city of Skingrad. While I had been traveling north, I decided that I needed some things that I had left there, and I needed a place to safely store my three new Sigil Stones. I deposited my things within my room, and went out to walk around the city for a couple hours to get some fresh air. I was still coughing from having to breathe the burnt air in the Plane of Oblivion. While I was walking around inside the shop where I had bought most of the furnishings for my home, a Nord woman approached me and asked if I would hire her on as a servant to keep my house clean and orderly while I wasn't there. I agreed to take her in, but not as a servant. I would pay her to keep my house clean, as well as put a roof over her head and food in her stomach. I think she still thinks that all I want is a servant to do my bidding around the house, but I do not plan to ever ask her to do anything than what she is being paid for. She seems nice enough, and on top of that she was orphaned at a young age, so I feel pity for her. I hope she will live comfortably in my house. But anyway, I'm sleeping here at home for tonight, and tomorrow I'm heading back to the Arcane Sanctuary. Raminus has sent for me, because there is a task that I must do. For now, I can only wonder what it is…


	9. Day 42

_Day 42 – Arcane Sanctuary Mage Quarters_

I made it to the Arcane Sanctuary within an hour, and reported to Raminus. He told me that the task I had been chosen for was to retrieve a book from Count Skingrad. The only reason I was going was because most of the other members of the guild were already off on other tasks, and I was one of the only free people left. I accepted the task, though I admit that I felt it was very beneath me to run a simple errand. I left the Imperial City and made my way back to Skingrad. Instead of entering the city like I normally do, I climbed the nearby hill and entered Castle Skingrad, the courtyard was very pretty, but I proceeded inside without stopping. I wanted to get this little errand out of the way and get back to actual Mage work. I asked a man named Mercator about getting an audience with the Count, but the only thing I was told was to come back the next day so Mercator could try and change the Count's mind about giving me an audience. I wasn't happy to hear this, but I thanked him for his time and left the castle. I spent the night at my house again, and the next morning I went back up to the castle to inquire about seeing the Count. Mercator met with me again, and told me that I had to meet the Count just outside a cave on the outskirts of Skingrad at two in the morning. While I thought it was odd that the Count would have me wait to see him, I thought it even more odd that the Count wished to meet _outside_ his castle, but I didn't question the Count's wishes and decided to wait until the appropriate time.

I left the castle again, and walked to the cave entrance where I would be meeting the Count. With nothing to do, I decided to take a short nap to help pass the time. I awoke after the sun had set, and the sky was a vast sea of black dotted with white stars. I slipped on the hood of my robe, and watched as my vision change. I could see everything with almost perfect detail, everything a light shade of blue. I smiled as my hood's enchantment worked its wonders on my eyes. I caught a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye, and saw three figures approaching me – one of which was Mercator. I stood up and walked calmly toward them, frowning that the Count was not present. Before I could ask, Mercator announced that neither I nor the Mages Guild would interfere with the Necromancer's plan for the Count of Skingrad. They drew their weapons, and I drew my sword. A battle ensued, and before long the three of them lay dead on the ground. I was breathing heavily, because I don't usually battle with a sword, when the Count of Skingrad himself came walking up behind me, telling me how I was too gullible for my own good. I asked him about the book he had borrowed, and the Count seemed to only get angrier at me. He told me the real reason the Guild had sent me to Skingrad was to spy on him, because they thought that me might have been in league with the Necromancers. My fight had disproved this theory, and the Count told me to tell the Guild that the next time they have suspicions about him they should come themselves instead of sending one of their lackeys to do it for them. I was almost as upset as the Count as I learned of the Guild's deception, and the Count seemed pleased that I felt the same anger as him. Before he left to return to the castle, he thanked me for helping him root out Mercator as a Necromancer – apparently the Count had a disliking of them. I bowed in respect, and rode my horse back to the Arcane Sanctuary.

On my way back to the Imperial City, however, I came upon a graveyard in a small town where yet another Oblivion Gate had sprung to life and was spewing forth Spider Daedra and Xivilai. Like all the previous gates I had closed, I entered this gate and slowly made my way into the main tower where I would find the Sigil Stone that held the gate open. This particular gate was designed the same as any other gate had been designed, however this one was quite populated with the demons of Oblivion. I found myself exhausted several times throughout the entire tower, having to stop and rest to regain my power before I continued on. After what seemed like an eternity within the tower fighting the Daedra minions, I finally found my way into the Sigil Stone room, and grabbed my prize from atop the flaming pillar. The column collapsed, and I was spit back out on my side of the gate just before it closed shut.

I made it back to the Imperial City in time to catch Raminus before he had retired for the night, and told him what the Count had told me. Raminus apologized for the deception, and awarded me the rank of Evoker for the services provided. Before he left, Raminus asked me to report to a man named Irlav Jarol about an old Aylied ruin that the guild was excavating near Cheydinhal. These ruins were known as the Vahtacen Ruins. I found this man, and he told me to report to an Argonian woman named Skaleel inside the ruins. I made my way over to the site, and Skaleel explained to me that they had encountered a sort of roadblock in the form of what they called 'The Pillar'. The pillar was apparently magical in nature, shocking whoever cast magic at the pillar. I talked with another mage about the pillar using a book I borrowed from Skaleel to translate the inscriptions around the room where the pillar was. The translations pretty much read that first I had to blast the pillar with fire, followed by frost. After that, I had to cast a spell on the pillar that would damage someone's magic power, and finally another spell that would fortify someone's magic power. Once I had cast all the spells in that order, the pillar finished opening itself up to reveal a hidden staircase. Both mages stationed in the ruins praised me for figuring out the translations and riddles, and said that as I had solved the mystery that had stumped everyone else, I should also be the one to explore the rooms beyond the pillar. Personally I think they were afraid to go on due to what they had already seen, but I also liked the idea of being able to discover something for the first time, so I descended the stairs and began exploring.

Most of the ruins were quite intriguing, all being colored the same bluish stone and full of traps. I was quite shocked when a Gloom Wraith burst from the shadows to attack me, and I quickly defeated it with my newly created Lightning Bolt spell. I pulled my hood over my head again, using the night-eye enchantment I had placed on it to see everything illuminated. A couple more Gloom Wraiths were lying in wait for me, but they fell to my magic easily. I made my way into a large room with a raised platform in the center of it. On the far side of the room, I found and pressed a button that raised a set of stairs on all four sides of the raised platform, which allowed me to climb up to it. I pressed yet another button that opened a container in the center of the platform, revealing an Ancient Elven Helmet. I retrieved the helmet, and made my way out of the Vahtacen ruins, only to be confronted with yet another Oblivion Gate just outside the entrance to the Vahtacen ruins. I dealt with this gate the same as I did the previous one, and proceeded back to the Arcane Sanctuary for a good night's sleep – at the time I felt like I really needed one.

I walked into the Arch-Mage's Sanctum and presented Irlav with the helmet I had uncovered at the Vahtacen ruins. He was more than happy at this development on the Vahtacen project, and congratulated me for my efforts. I spoke again with Raminus, and he promoted me to the rank of Conjurer in recognition for the resourcefulness I had shown in putting Project Vahtacen back on track. I slept well that night, and didn't awaken until around noon the next day. Raminus told me that the council had need of information on the Necromancers, so I walked into the Mystic Archives and searched around until I found a book known as Necromancer's Moon. I discussed this with the mage in charge of the Mystic Archives, and reported my findings to Raminus. He instructed me to go and visit the place the book described known as the Dark Fissure. I quickly made my way over to the location described, and sure enough I found an alter decorated in Necromancer décor. However, there were no Necromancers around, so I had to wait. My orders were to observe the making of a Black Soul Gem, but only interact if threatened. I ended up camping out for almost a week before I finally managed to observe a single Necromancer make one of the gems. I quickly made my way back to the Arcane Sanctuary and reported my findings to Raminus. Because of my determination to finish the assignments given so far, Raminus appointed me the Rank of Magician. I was happy to be advancing through the guild ranks so quickly, and decided to stay the day at the Arcane Sanctuary to celebrate in the Alchemy hall.


	10. Day 52

_Day 52 – Just outside the Ruins of Silorn_

I awoke the next morning and strode into the Arch-Mages sanctum, and he looked pleased to see me. He had a task that he felt I was appropriate for, and I was pleased to accept it from him. He wanted me to go to a place called Nenyond Twyll to look for a Necromancer Informer that had apparently not reported in. The Arch-Mage feared that he may have been discovered, so I was to find the informant and bring him back if at all possible. With the directions given to me by Raminus, I made my way to Nenyond Twyll, where I encountered all sorts of Necromancer handiwork. Unfortunately, I found out that the informant had indeed been found out, and been turned into a living dead as a result. I slew the informant, praying in my head that he find peace in death. When I brought this news back to the Arch-Mage, he was happy that I had completed my task while at the same time he was sad to hear of the death of his friend. I bid the Arch-Mage farewell, and went to speak with Raminus. Raminus appointed me the rank of Warlock for the service I had done for the Arch-Mage, and I slept in the Mage Quarters for the night.

The morning after I gained the rank of Warlock, I reported back to Arch-Mage Traven, who told me of my next task. I was to return to the City of Skingrad and speak with Count Hassildor, the Count of Skingrad. Apparently he had information for the guild, and he even requested that I be sent to retrieve the information. I guess he trusts me more than any of the other mages here at the Arcane Sanctuary. I quickly left the Imperial City, heading for Castle Skingrad. It only took me a couple hours to reach the castle, and I informed the Count's new Head Servant that I had arrived and needed to speak with the Count. I only had to wait a few minutes before the Count himself walked down the stairs to greet me, and he told me that in order to obtain the information he had, I had to do him a little favor. Apparently I had to go to a nearby cave and exterminate the rogue vampires that have taken up residence there. On top of that, I had to get rid of a team of vampire hunters that had come to Skingrad on rumors they had heard. I bowed as I left the castle, and made my way to the Vampire cave. The vampires inside the cave easily fell to my magic, and I made sure to take advantage of their weakness to fire. With all the vampires reduced to piles of ash, I returned to Skingrad and talked with the vampire hunter team leader. He wouldn't believe that I had beaten him to his target and destroyed all the vampires myself. I tried again and again, but eventually he just quit listening to me all together, convinced that only he could destroy the vampires that 'infested the town'. I feared that he might try attacking random citizens to determine who was vampire and who wasn't, so I steeled myself for the only course of action I could think of. Later that night, I snuck into the Two Sisters Inn where the entire team was staying the night, and killed them in their sleep with some of my lightning magic. I don't regret killing them, but I still wish that the team leader had believed me and left the town. I did what I did because I didn't want him hurting any townsfolk looking for vampires that didn't exist. When I reported this information back to the Count, he told me that Mannimarco, a very old Necromancer, had come to Cyrodiil, and that was the reason behind all the Necromancers' recent activity. I didn't hesitate in getting this information to Arch-Mage Traven, and he was very disappointed to hear that the 'King of Worms' had returned to Cyrodiil. He said he needed to speak with the council, so I decided to stay the night at the Arcane Sanctuary.

The following morning, I spoke again with the Arch-Mage, who told me that while he was still debating the right course of action with the Mages Council, he wanted me to head north to Bruma. Apparently he hadn't had any word from the Bruma guild hall and he was getting worried that something might have happened. I accepted the task, partly because the Arch-Mage had enough on his mind to worry about, but mostly because I wanted to see Volanaro and J'skar again. I often find myself missing their pranks on the guild leader. I headed north to Bruma as quickly as I could on my horse, arriving in a few short hours. I could smell something burning, and quickly hurried into the guild hall to find it burning on the inside. The place was also full of Faded Wraiths, and I was forced to fight my way through them using my Destruction magic to get back up to the guild leader's room. Once there, I saw a lone Necromancer standing over the leader's body, and she was calling out for someone to come out of hiding. As I entered the room, she turned and told me that the King of Worms had already left, and that I wouldn't be leaving. I blasted her aside with my magic, killing her before she slammed into the wall. As I stared at her body, J'skar appeared before me. Apparently when the killing had started he had become invisible out of fear of being dragged into the fight. I explained that all the wraiths had been slain, and that he should make his way to the Arcane Sanctuary where he would be safe. He quickly agreed, and ran from the guild hall. I left it as well, quickly making my way back to the Arcane Sanctuary and reporting my findings to the Arch-Mage. He was again sad to hear of the death of a friend, but brushed it aside and I could see the determination in his eyes as he said that he would speak with the council again on this new development.

I returned to the Arch-Mage sanctum the next morning, where Raminus gave me the new rank of Wizard for dealing with the destruction of the Bruma guild hall. He told me that reconstruction had already begun, and I was happy to hear it. I spoke again with the Arch-Mage, who told me that two Necromancer artifacts had been taken from the Arcane Sanctum, and they needed to be returned before they fell into the hands of the King of Worms. I was charged with the task of bringing back the Necromancer's Amulet from Fort Ontus, where a mage known as Caranya had taken the amulet, as well as getting back the Bloodworm Helmet from Irlav at Fort Teleman. I first chose to go after the helmet, fighting my way through the Necromancers and daedra minions that populated the halls of the abandoned fort. I finally found Irlav, covered in his own blood deep within the ruins. I took the helmet from his body, said a prayer for his soul, and left to make my way to Fort Ontus to go after the amulet. It took me almost a day to cross the span of Cyrodiil to reach Fort Ontus, but I would not rest until my task was finished. I entered the fort to find it full of mages, and I had hoped that maybe the Arcane Sanctuary had already gotten the amulet back. I walked through the halls until I found Caranya, who revealed that she too was a Necromancer, as well as everyone else in the ruin. I blasted her with my magic, sending her flying into the air and smashing into the nearby pillar, where she fell limp. I grabbed the amulet from her dead fingers, and fought my way out of the ruin through all the Necromancers I had mistaken for mages. I finally found my way back to the Arcane Sanctuary, and returned both items to the Arch-Mage. Traven insisted that both items would be well hidden so they did not disappear again, and asked me to speak with Raminus about receiving another growth in rank for my excellent work in depriving the King of Worms from his goals. Raminus appointed me the rank of Master-Wizard, the same rank as him. He was proud to call me an equal, and I thanked him for his friendship. I retired for the rest of the day, having not slept in quite a while.

The following morning, the Arch-Mage told me how badly the council was destroying itself, and that he feared the King of Worms would make his move against the guild soon. Through a series of sources that he wouldn't disclose to me, Traven told me of a colossal Black Soul Gem that the Necromancers had been working on lately. He told me that if we were to prevent the destruction of the Mages Guild in Cyrodiil, we would need to capture that soul gem and bring it back to the Arcane Sanctuary. He told me that he had complete confidence in my abilities, and that he would send a battalion of Battlemages to assist me in getting the gem. I thanked him for his praise, and left the Imperial City. I made my way to the ruins of Silorn, and met up with the Battlemages. We are camping a good distance away from the ruins so we are not discovered, and going over a battle plan for tomorrow. If I don't return from the battle tomorrow, I've asked that this journal be taken to my home in Skingrad and given to my friend and servant, Eyja. This journal will act as my will if I am slain, and I leave everything I have to her. I pray that none of my companions are killed in the attack tomorrow, but I cannot predict the future. We will see…


	11. Day 58

_Day 58 – Arcane Sanctuary_

The morning after staying just outside Silorn, we positioned ourselves strategically around the ruin so as to surprise the Necromancers. I made use of my Chameleon spell, and stood just above the entrance to the ruin. My target was Falcar, the mage from Cheydinhal that had tried to get me killed. As luck would have it, Falcar came walking out of the ruins to speak with a few of the Necromancer guards. I acted upon this chance and blasted him in the back with my strongest spell. The guards all crowded around Falcar's dead body, wondering what had hit him, so I launched my strongest fireball spell into the center of them. I smirked with amusement as I watched all of the guards fly in every direction. Apparently my Battlemage comrades considered this the queue to attack, and came charging out of their hiding places. Within mere minutes, the battle was over and all the Necromancers were dead. I retrieved the Colossal Black Soul Gem from Falcar's body, and left the celebrating Battlemages to return to the Arcane Sanctuary. I made it back relatively easily, and handed the gem I had retrieved over to the Arch-Mage. Traven explained that my next conversation with him would be our last, and despite my confusion I told him I was ready for my next task. He held the gem tightly as he told me that my next task was to directly confront the King of Worms using the Colossal Black Soul Gem to protect me from his enthralling attempts. Before I could ask how the empty gem was supposed to protect me, it struck me. Traven said that after he was gone, I would be recognized as Arch-Mage, and that I should take care of the guild to the best of my ability. I opened my mouth to protest the course of action he had chosen, but no words came. I simply bowed in respect, and said a Dunmer prayer for him. He thanked me for all that I had done, and wished me well. I wanted to look away while he cast a fatal spell upon himself, but I kept my eyes trained on him, respecting his final moments. His dead body fell to the floor of the Arch-Mage quarters, and the Colossal Black Soul Gem began to glow brightly. I picked it up, tied it to a sack at my waist, and made my way towards Echo Cave, where the King of Worms was waiting.

It took me quite a while to find the cave, kill the Necromancer guard outside, and use his key to get inside. This cave was very populated with Necromancers, and they were some of the strongest I've ever seen. It took me over three hours to finally find Mannimarco. As I approached him, he quickly cast a spell at me that made my arms and legs freeze in place. He then began a very long monologue about how he would kill me, reanimate me as a servant, and all that other wonderful Necromancer stuff. As he finished, I felt the paralysis spell wear off. He saw that I was able to move again, so he waved his hand and launched a red orb at me. I couldn't dodge in time, but watched as the orb struck me and dissipated into thin air. Mannimarco threw a few more orbs at me, growing furious that it wasn't working. I felt the Colossal Black Soul Gem pulsing in the sack, and smiled. I launched my spells at the King of Worms, knocking him back a bit and causing him to clutch at his chest burns. He drew a Daedric Mace, and I drew my sword. We stared for a second, then lunged at each other's throats. The battle lasted almost half an hour, consisting of both spells and weapons. I finally managed to impale my sword through his chest, piercing his heart. He cursed at me again and again, claiming that it was impossible for a lowly guild mage like me to take down the King of Worms. I pulled my sword from his chest, dropping him to the ground. He glared up at me with blood dripping out of his mouth, and I swung my sword again, removing his head from his shoulders. His body slumped to the floor, dissolving into dust. I quickly left the cave, mopping up the few remaining Necromancers on my way out, and rode my horse back to the Arcane Sanctuary. I reported my success to Raminus, who told me that while I would be accepted as the new Arch-Mage, he would still mourn for Traven. I pulled the Colossal Black Soul Gem from my sack, and smashed it on the floor. Raminus was horrified for a moment, then smiled as he watched a mist emerge from the shards, take the shape of Traven's head for a moment, smiled, then dissipated into mist again and drifted out the ceiling windows. Raminus thanked me for releasing Traven's soul, and I said that I would also mourn for his sacrifice.

The following day I awoke within the Arch-Mage quarters – my new home away from home. I thought about all the trials that had led to my ascension through the Mages Guild ranks, smiling at my success. I had become that which I had set out to become, and I had indeed become a powerful mage like I had promised Martin I would be. The only thing that remained for me to do was find an appropriate way to test my abilities and determine whether I was ready to serve in the Blades as I had promised Martin I would. I walked through the Imperial City, wondering how I would go about finding such a test for myself, when I saw a poster attached to a nearby wall. Fighters were wanted for the Arena, especially for Blue Team. This sparked an idea in my head, and I made my way over to the Arena. I spoke with the Battlemaster, who was shocked that I was trying to enlist as a combatant. However, he didn't protest against it, and handed me my battle raiment. Over the next few days I participated in many different battles, balancing my use of magic with the use of my sword.

I had picked up a Glass Longsword while I had been in Echo Cave, and before I fought my first Arena battle I enchanted the blade with a spell that would weaken my opponent's weapon with each strike until it was broken. Even with the enchantment, however, the battle were very difficult. I earned more than my fair share of cuts and gashes, but I refused to complain to anyone about them. Even during the matches I limited myself to using only my magic, the opponents I fought against were very skillful in dodging my blasts. Eventually I finally worked my way up to the rank of Champion, and earned the right to challenge the current Grand Champion – a half-orc. That fight was one of my closest battles yet, as I lost the use of one of my arms for a while during the fight. The half-orc hit me hard enough that both my hands went numb for a while even though I had successfully blocked the blow with my sword. He even succeeded in destroying my sword, forcing me to rely on my magic. In the end, I managed to defeat him, and earned the rank of Grand Champion. I was famous throughout the entire Imperial City, and I allowed myself to bask in the glory. I engaged in one additional fight after I defeated the half-orc, against a team of three Minotaur Lords. That battle wasn't as hard as the half-orc had been, but it made for a close second. Now that I'm the Grand Champion of the arena, I am convinced that I have become strong enough to serve in the Blades, and tomorrow I will head back to Cloud Ruler Temple to receive my first assignment.


	12. Day 64

_Day 64 – My House in Skingrad_

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote in here. I made my way back to Cloud Ruler Temple as I said I would, and Jauffre told me that he wanted me to meet Baurus at a tavern within the Elven District of the Imperial City. Baurus was the only survivor of the Blades who were there with me when the Emperor was murdered in the sewers a couple months ago. I made my way there quickly, only to find that Baurus was being watched by a mysterious person. I let Baurus head into the basement of the tavern, and watched as this person quickly followed him down. Following Baurus' instructions, I followed this person downstairs, where I helped Baurus take him down. I searched the man's body, only to find a copy of the first volume in a series of books belonging to the Mythic Dawn, the mysterious group of assassins who had murdered the Emperor. I took this book to Tar'Meena, the Arcane Sanctuary's librarian, where we talked about the Mythic Dawn for a bit before she lent me a copy of the second volume.

Tar'Meena directed me to a store within the Imperial City called 'First Edition', a shop where specialist collectors could order rare books. I visited the shop, and as luck would have it I managed to talk the owner into selling me a copy of the third volume he had on reserve for someone else. I spoke with the intended owner of the book, and revealed to him that the Mythic Dawn were the ones behind the Emperor's murder. The man was shocked, and said that he wanted nothing further to do with the cult. Instead, he told me that there was a meeting place in the sewers of the Imperial City where you could meet with the Mythic Dawn and receive the final volume, which when read together with the three I already possessed would lead me to the Mythic Dawn's main hideout. I brought this information to Baurus, and the two of us entered the sewers in search of this meeting place. It didn't take us long to find it, as Baurus had passed it several times on undercover runs for the Blades. I wanted to be the one to meet with the cult to get the book, but Baurus insisted that he do it…something about how he owed the Mythic Dawn for murdering the Emperor. I finally agreed to let him go, while I went to an elevated position and provided him with back up. Good thing I did too, because the cult recognized him as a Blade and almost killed him before I stepped in. We retrieved the fourth volume off one of the dead bodies, and Baurus bid me farewell. He was going back to Cloud Ruler Temple to protect Martin, leaving me with the duty of infiltrating the Mythic Dawn hideout and retrieving the Amulet of Kings.

There was a code in the four books that I had gathered, leading me to a garden just outside the Imperial Palace. At noon, a slab of stone glowed with a map of Cyrodiil, pinpointing the location of the hideout. I marked the location on my map, and left the Imperial City to go there at once. The sooner I recovered that Amulet, the better. It didn't take me too long to journey to the Mythic Dawn hideout, and they let me walk right in – seems that anyone who is smart enough to find the place is automatically thought to be either a cult member, or someone who wants to become a cult member. I was neither, but they didn't know that. I was stripped of all my belongings, and dressed in the traditional red robe of the Mythic Dawn, and allowed to enter the main ritual chamber, where a man who was actually wearing the Amulet of Kings opened a portal and disappeared. Unfortunately the portal closed before I could follow him inside, so at the very least I could drain the Mythic Dawn's numbers a bit before I left to report back to Jauffre. I managed to defeat every last member within the hideout, freeing an Argonian that I would have been forced to kill in order to officially join the Mythic Dawn. I retrieved all of my equipment, and made my way back to Cloud Ruler Temple with a book called the 'Mysterium Xarxes'.

When I reached Cloud Ruler Temple, Jauffre was very disheartened to hear that the Amulet of Kings had slipped out of my grasp, but was slightly relieved to hear that I had retrieved the 'Mysterium Xarxes'. I brought the book to Martin, who practically snatched it from me claiming that the book was evil and corrupting. In his younger years Martin had apparently practiced Daedric magic, so he knew how to protect himself against the book's evil, and vowed that he would find a way to open the same portal that I saw the Amulet of Kings disappear through. Martin would need time to read the book, so I reported to Jauffre as to what I should do next. He told me that a group of Mythic Dawn spies were in the town of Bruma, and he wanted me to kill them. While I had my qualms about killing, an order was an order.

It didn't take me long to root out the spies in Bruma and alert the town to their presence. The guard was stepped up a bit to keep a closer watch on strangers around the town, and I returned up the mountain to Cloud Ruler Temple. When I returned, Martin told me that he had made some progress with the book, saying that in order to perform the ritual to open the portal, he would need the blood of a Daedra Lord. He also told me that most Daedra Lords created artifacts imbued with their very essence and gave these artifacts to certain individuals that have proven themselves worthy. I remembered the Ebony Blade, given to me by a Daedra Lord after I had fulfilled his tasks. Martin recognized the blade, and was more than happy to use it. Apparently in order to open the portal, all the material components involved would be physically destroyed, so the Daedra artifact would also be destroyed. I have no regrets about losing the sword, as I am not proud of what I did in order to obtain it. After handing over the blade to Martin, he said that he would need more time in order to decipher more of the Mysterium Xarxes. I bowed in respect, and reported to Jauffre for another task.

This time the town of Bruma was in turmoil because an Oblivion Gate had opened just outside the city walls, just like the one in Kvatch had. The guards were succeeding in keeping the daedra at bay outside the walls, but they were quickly running out of men. If I didn't intervene and close the gate, Bruma would be overrun and destroyed just like Kvatch was. I was not about to just stand by and watch another disaster like that happen on my watch, so I immediately charged down the hill and spoke with the guards outside the gate. Half of them would remain outside the gate, killing anything that emerged from the fiery void, while I accompanied the other half – including the Captain of the guards – into the gate in order to close it. While I would've preferred to go alone into the gate like I had grown accustomed to doing, the Captain insisted that he go with. It wasn't in my power to stop them from fulfilling their duty, so together we all charged into the gate. Unfortunately, as we fought our way up the main tower towards the Sigil Stone sanctum, we kept losing more and more guards until it was just the Captain and I. The two of us managed to pull the Sigil Stone from atop the pillar of flame, and just before the gate closed both of us were spit back out on our side of the gate. The other guards were relieved to see that the Captain was alive and well, and they all congratulated me before I made my way back up to Cloud Ruler Temple.

Jauffre was happy to hear that I had closed the Bruma Oblivion Gate, but told me that Bruma would need assistance with their defense if they were to survive. I would travel to the other cities and towns around Cyrodiil to look for assistance. I bowed in respect to the Grandmaster of the Blades, and left for the closest town to Bruma – Cheydinhal. It turns out that another Oblivion Gate had opened outside the town walls, and the Count of Cheydinhal's son, who turned out to be the leader of the 'Knights of the Thorn' – a pathetic attempt by a group of kids to become knights in order to protect their town – had entered the gate with his 'knights' under the vow to close it and save the town. I entered the gate, both to close it and to find the Count's missing son. I found the son a little ways away from the gate down the hill, wounded and clinging to his sword. Next to him was the last remaining 'knight', and the son of the Count almost seemed angry that I had showed up. He claimed that I had taken too long to give him assistance, and that the three of us would now proceed to the main tower and retrieve the Sigil Stone. When I asked him who he thought he was to be giving orders in that kind of situation after getting all of his 'knights' killed, he simply remarked that he had successfully killed two daedra without assistance from anyone else. I requested that he follow me back up to the gateway so he and the survivor could leave safely, but this guy wouldn't hear of leaving until his task was complete.

I swear, being around this kid made me wish I had been born an Altmer so I wouldn't share the same race as him. Throughout the entire tower, he and his friend would simply charge into battle without thinking about how to approach properly, forcing me to exhaust my magical powers healing them after _I_ killed the creature they had charged. After almost getting his friend and I killed by an entire group of Xivilai, I kicked the kid to the ground and held my sword at his throat. He started barking threats that his father would execute me for threatening him, but he silenced himself as the tip of my blade made a small cut just under his chin. I had told him that if he ever charged in recklessly again, I would kill him myself. The kid seemed to understand that I was serious, and let me take the lead for the rest of the tower. Under my lead, we breezed through the rest of the tower and as the kid reached for the Sigil Stone to take it home as a trophy, I shoved him aside and took the stone. He opened his mouth to protest, but didn't say a word as I glared in his direction and explained that he had no clue about what to do with it. The gate closed, and we were spit back out on our side. The Count's son praised 'our' victory over the Daedra, and proclaimed me an 'honorable member of the Knights of the Thorn'. He and the last survivor ran off toward the castle, and I forced my legs to follow. I spoke with the Count, who not only thanked me for closing the gate, but also for saving his son's life. The Count understood what a pain in the ass his son was to everyone around him, but he was still the Count's son. While I told him I understood, it didn't change the fact that I still wanted to kill his son. As a reward, the Count offered me a choice between two of his family's heirlooms, which turned out to be a staff and a sword. I chose the sword, as I never liked using staves in battle and always felt safer with a sword at my side. He presented me with Thornblade, a very unique looking sword to say the least.

After he agreed to send reinforcements to Bruma, I bid him farewell and left for Chorrol. If I ever have to be around that Count's child again, I swear I will be driven insane. I arrived there without much trouble, but unfortunately another Oblivion Gate had opened outside the walls of this town as well. I dove into the gate, fought my way to and up through the center tower, and retrieved the Sigil Stone. With another gate closed, I entered the town of Chorrol and spoke to the Countess, who agreed to send more reinforcements to Bruma in return for me closing the gate outside the town walls. She tried getting me to help her with another issue, but I said that unfortunately I had other towns to recruit for the defense of Bruma. Bowing in respect, I left the castle and made for Skingrad, where I am now. It is getting dark, so I've decided to stay the night at my house, and tomorrow I will ask the Count of Skingrad for help in defending Bruma…unless another gate opens here just like they have been everywhere else I've been lately…


	13. Day 85

_Day 85 – My House in Skingrad_

It took me quite a few days to travel to all the remaining cities within Cyrodiil's borders. My worst fear was realized, as I found an open gate near the outer wall of every town and city. At the town of Leyawiin there were two gates to close, and I was completely exhausted afterward. However, in the end, I managed to close every gate outside the towns and secure more allies for Bruma. After I had gathered allies from every major town and city, I made my way back to Cloud Ruler Temple to speak with Martin about progress on making the portal. He said that he had uncovered the second object that he would need to open the portal – the blood of a Divine. This provided us with a great puzzle to solve. Unlike Daedra, the Divines had no artifacts that we could use. The answer was finally stumbled upon by Jauffre, who mentioned that the Armor of Tiber Septim, which had been buried in the ruins of Sancre Tor. Apparently the blood of Tiber Septim had been splashed upon it, before he had ascended to become one of the Nine. It would suffice for providing the blood of a Divine. So, naturally, I was chosen to retrieve the armor. Jauffre was hesitant to give me the key to Sancre Tor, but I was confident that I could find the armor and bring it back.

Once I was inside the ruins, I found the place to be filled with Liches and Gloom Wraiths. My magic made short work of them, and I stumbled upon a group of deceased Blades who had been magically imprisoned within the ruins. I destroyed their physical skeletons, which in turn freed their souls from captivity. There was a barrier protecting the shrine of Tiber Septim, but the four knights managed to destroy the barrier and allowed me to obtain the Armor of Tiber Septim. I wasted no time in bringing this back to Martin at Cloud Ruler Temple, and he told me that he had discovered the next item needed to open the portal – a Great Welkynd Stone. The only stone Martin knew of that hadn't been claimed yet was in an Aylied ruin called Miscarcand. I readied myself for the task of getting the stone that everyone else had failed to get, and set out. Finding the ruins wasn't that hard with the mark that had been made on my map, but I found the ruins themselves to be the home of a tribe of goblins and undead. There were several occasions that I let the two fight against each other, and I took out the winner. The ruin reminded me of my time in the ruins of Vahtacen, so I was easily able to find the switches that opened the doors that blocked my path. I managed to find the Great Welkynd Stone, but as I removed it from its pedestal the entire ruin seemed to come alive with undead. Doors would close and lock themselves, causing me to have to pick them open again with my Skeleton Key or blast them with magic to defend myself. I eventually made my way out of the ruin after an entire day of almost nonstop fighting, and I fell asleep several times on my horse. Thankfully, my horse seemed to know where I wanted to go, and brought me back to Cloud Ruler Temple. I handed the Great Welkynd Stone over to Martin, and he was amazed to see one for the first time.

I slept well that night, and the following morning I awoke to find Martin dressed completely in heavy armor. I quickly dressed myself in the Ebony Armor that I have been wearing the past few weeks, and joined him outside. Martin led Jauffre and I down through the town of Bruma, and outside the walls to a location about half a mile from the outer wall. Martin gave a speech to all the soldiers that I had gathered from the towns and cities of Cyrodiil, and explained that the purpose of the battle was to get the Mythic Dawn to open a Great Oblivion Gate, but in order to do that they would need to open three normal gates first. Once the Great Gate was open, I was to enter it and obtain the Great Sigil Stone – the final item needed to open the portal and get the Amulet of Kings back. The battle started out good, my magic being a great asset to keeping the daedra pouring out of the gates from overpowering us. However, when all three of the normal gates were open, even I could only keep one gate from spilling out into the overall fight. People and daedra were being killed left and right, but I remained focused on keeping the center gate at bay. Then I saw the gate dissolve into nothing, and reform itself into a humongous gate that stretched over 100 feet wide and almost 75 feet tall. I looked to Martin, who simply nodded his approval and continued fighting off the daedra around him. I paused for a moment, admiring Martin as he plunged his blade into and out of daedra after daedra, almost like he had been doing it all his life. I quickly recovered from the daydream, however, and threw myself through the Great Gate.

What I saw on the other side of that gate was a truly horrific site. A giant siege engine was slowly rumbling its way toward the great gate, ready to destroy the town of Bruma on the other side of the gate. I braced myself with a water-walking spell, and started running across the lava lake toward the main tower where the stone was kept. I had to constantly cast restorative magic upon myself as I ran, seeing as the lava was very hot and burned me constantly. I managed to make it to the entrance to the tower fairly quickly using this method, and made my way up through the tower just like I would any other tower. As I beheld the Great Sigil Stone on top of the flame pillar, the only word that would describe it was huge. It pulsed as if it had a life all its own, and grabbing it from atop the pillar was a task all its own. But, I succeeded in my mission to retrieve it, and the Great Gate was closed. Half of the giant siege engine had made it to our side of the gate, and when the Great Gate closed the machine was torn in half – making it useless in the future. The town of Bruma celebrated this victory over the Daedric Prince of Destruction, and Martin took the Great Sigil Stone from me to go back to Cloud Ruler Temple and prepare the ritual to open the portal.

I made my way back up to Cloud Ruler Temple after spending a little time in Bruma to repair my armor and rest my body. Martin began the ritual, and the portal opened right in the middle of the Grand Hall. I gave everyone one last look, and stepped through it. I found myself on some sort of tropical island, and the portal I had come through closed behind me. I worked my way up through the island toward the castle on the mountain where Mankar Camoran was waiting with the Amulet of Kings. First I had to pass through some grotto, which in order to get into I had to put on a set of bracers that would not come off. I managed to find someone willing to help me inside of the grotto, and even though we were bothered by the Dremora guards for a while, he managed to get the bracers off of me and followed me up to the castle. I confronted Mankar about the Amulet, and he responded by attacking me with his staff. My ally and I managed to fight off Mankar and his two siblings and kill them, and I retrieved the Amulet of Kings just before the realm closed. It sort of reminded me of an Oblivion Gate in the sense that killing Mankar was almost the same as retrieving a Sigil Stone – take it from its natural resting place and the entire realm would collapse. I reappeared in Cloud Ruler Temple, and handed the Amulet of Kings to Martin, who gladly put it on and proved that he was indeed of the Septim bloodline. He dressed himself in the same style of robes that his father had died in, and he truly looked like an Emperor. Together with a full Blade escort, we all made our way to the Imperial City so that Martin could light the Dragonfires and the entire Oblivion Crisis would finally be over.

We made it to the Imperial palace with little to no trouble, and brought Martin before the Council so they could officially appoint Martin as the new Emperor. Just before they could, however, guards came running into the palace proclaiming that Oblivion Gates were opening up all over the city and daedra were running loose everywhere. Martin told me that he had to get to the temple so he could light the Dragonfires. I went with him and together we fought our way through the streets to get to the temple, but we were horrified to find that the Daedric Prince of Destruction himself had appeared just outside the temple and was wreaking havoc. Martin reassured me that there was still a way to banish him back onto the Plane of Oblivion and seal the Oblivion Gates forever, so I followed him inside the temple. I stood aside and watched as Martin smashed the Amulet of Kings just as the Prince of Destruction burst into the temple. I watched in awe as Martin transformed into a crimson dragon, an Avatar of Akatosh in physical form. In his new form, Martin easily banished the Daedra Lord back into Oblivion, and turned into a giant stone statue. In the aftermath of the attack, all of the daedra had vanished when their Lord had been banished, but the city was still smoldering in many places. It would take time to rebuild, but it _would_ be rebuilt – and that was the important thing. The Council proclaimed me Champion of Cyrodiil, and a special suit of Imperial Dragon armor was ordered to be crafted for me. Normally only an Emperor would wear such a set of armor, but my deeds have apparently more than proven me worthy of wearing it. So, sure enough, two weeks after the Oblivion Crisis had ended I approached the Imperial Armory and donned my new armor for the first time.

This will be my final journal entry. I am leaving Cyrodiil tomorrow, and I don't know exactly where I'll be going. I feel that I've accomplished all that I can in this province, and my only real reason for involving myself in the Empire was now dead – either trapped within the dragon statue or resting within the halls of his forefathers. I don't know where Martin is now, but I know that his sacrifice was necessary for our world to survive. His strength was the only reason I ever involved myself with the Blades or the Empire, and now he's gone. I'm leaving my house in the care of Eyja, so I expect that it will be well taken care of. I am also leaving this journal in her care, so that she can relay my tale to others in the future. I don't plan to leave Cyrodiil forever, but I do not expect to return anytime soon. I'm leaving the Mages Guild in the care of Raminus, as I have seen his potential to lead during my rise through the ranks. The Arena will hopefully find a new Grand Champion, whom I look forward to facing upon my return. Other than that, however, I have no ties to this province keeping me here. As for where I'll go, I think I'll investigate a strange door that has appeared in Niben Bay – rumor has it that the door leads to a different plane of existence, and I've been wanting to check it out for myself. To whoever's reading this, I hope you have learned from my experiences and will pass on my tale to future generations to come. I can finally say…farewell…


End file.
